This invention relates to an apparatus for imprinting and dispensing pressure-sensitive labels adhering to a carrier tape comprising an operating lever which is pivotal from a rest position in which it holds a printing mechanism raised from a platen into an operating position in which it holds the printing mechanism bearing against the platen, a feed means for stepwise drawing of the carrier tape over the platen and a peel edge at which the pressure-sensitive labels detach from the carrier tape and move into a dispensing position, and a braking means for clamping the carrier tape with the pressure-sensitive labels adhering thereto on the path to the peel edge in the rest position of the operating lever.
Such an apparatus is known from DE-OS No. 2,518,782. In this known apparatus a pressure-sensitive label can be brought into the dispensing position by first squeezing and then releasing an operating lever. During the squeezing of the lever the label in the apparatus is provided with an imprint in that the printing mechanism is lowered by means of the printing mechanism lever onto the label disposed on the platen. The imprint may for example be a price or article number. On release of the operating lever the feed means engages the carrier tape and draws it an amount corresponding to the label length round the peel edge. When the carrier tape is drawn round the peel edge the label detaches and moves into the dispensing position beneath an applicator roll. The label can now be adhered to an article by rolling the applicator roll on said article. To prevent the carrier tape being pulled during the application of the label on the article due for instance to glue bridges or incomplete severing from the following label, the result of which would be that the following label would not assume the correct printing position on the platen, the brake means used in the known apparatus clamps the carrier tape on the way to the platen only when the operating lever assumes its rest position. As soon as the operating lever is squeezed against the grip of the apparatus the clamping action of the brake means is released so that the carrier tape can move.
If the operations necessary for applying the pressure-sensitive labels to articles, i.e. the squeezing and releasing of the operating lever and the subsequent rolling of the applicator roll with the resulting adhering of the label to the article, are carried out in rapid succession and possibly overlap, it frequently happens that the operating lever is squeezed against the apparatus grip again before the adhering of the label to the article is completely finished. This means that the brake means is released before the adhering operation of the label terminated. This has the undesirable result that the carrier band may be subsequently pulled so that the following label no longer assumes the correct printing position on the platen.
The problem underlying the invention is to further develop an apparatus of the type mentioned at the beginning so that a rapid succession of the operating steps necessary when using the apparatus is possible without the accuracy of the application of the imprint to the labels in the apparatus being impaired.
This problem is solved in that the braking means comprises a brake actuating member which is pressed positively into a carrier tape clamping position out of which said member is pivotal into a carrier tape release position, between the brake actuating member and the operating lever a cam gearing being disposed which is so constructed that the brake actuating member is pivoted out of the carrier tape clamping position into the carrier tape release position when the operating lever has covered a part of its travel from the rest position into the operative position, and an arresting means is provided which arrests the brake actuating member in the carrier tape release position and is released as soon as the operating lever reaches its rest position.
In the apparatus constructed according to the invention the carrier tape is clamped by the brake means not only in the rest position of the operating lever but is still clamped when the operating lever has already covered a portion of its total travel out of the rest position. Consequently, a subsequent pulling of the carrier tape and thus a displacement of the label disposed on the platen cannot take place even if the individual operations necessary for applying a label to an article are carried out in rapid succession or even overlap of if for some other reason the operating lever has been moved somewhat out of its rest position during the application of the label.
The invention will be explained by way of example with the aid of the drawings. FIGS. 1 to 4 show the apparatus according to the invention in four successive operating phases.